IN YOUR OPINION

Letters to the editor, Feb. 11, 2013

Published: Monday, February 11, 2013 at 6:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Sunday, February 10, 2013 at 5:54 p.m.

ORMC’s commitment

I have been proud to work at Ocala Regional Medical Center for 24 years. During this time, ORMC has added and intensified many services. The new trauma unit is the proverbial icing on the cake. Outstanding new physicians and allied health personnel such as nurses and physician assistants have re-energized the hospital and have raised the bar for all departments.

ORMC is a better hospital now that it has a trauma unit. This is good news for Ocala.

The trauma MDs are also working with emergency medical services, improving it for the entire community. HCA has invested millions of dollars to make this happen. I can assure you that the commitment is sincere and the program is first rate.

Yes, it did take money to open the trauma unit. HCA has it and invested in Ocala. I do not think that for-profit institutions are inherently evil. If you think so, you need to shop at charity thrift stores and not at the mall. It seems that Munroe Regional Medical Center will need to ally with a for-profit system to survive. Does anybody really think it should close to avoid the stain of profitability?

Let’s get on with the business of improving health care for all with a healthy ORMC-MRMC competition. And yes, it will require money to do that.

Dr. Paul L. Urban, M.D.

Ocala

The greyhound debate

I was not pleased to read James Blanchard’s Feb. 1 letter to the editor in response to an earlier column regarding greyhounds (“Greyhound misuse is Florida’s great shame,” Jan. 27). I have been involved in greyhound adoption, foster care and advocacy since 2005, and I currently share my home with four greyhounds. I am also the vice president of GREY2K USA, the largest nonprofit greyhound protection organization in the U.S.

Mr. Blanchard claims that “nearly 95 percent” of registered greyhounds are placed in loving homes when they no longer race. The greyhound industry likes to throw out numbers like this but cannot actually offer any evidence or documentation about the fate of most ex-racers.

That’s because Florida, which has an estimated 8,000 greyhounds running at 13 operational tracks, does not report such information to the public. This is greyhound racing’s dirty little secret, and Mr. Blanchard’s claim is either wishful thinking at best, or pure fabrication at worst.

Formed in March 2001, my group works to pass stronger greyhound protection laws and to end the cruelty of dog racing on both national and international levels. We also promote the rescue, rehoming and adoption of greyhounds across the globe. Mr. Blanchard’s claim that helping greyhounds is “radical” speaks for itself.

To read documentation about dog racing, or to learn more about GREY2K USA, please visit us at GREY2KUSA.org.

Eric Jackson

Albuquerque, N.M.

Message of expendability

It is with a sad heart that I write this letter, thinking of the violence that has recently snuffed out precious lives and devastated families in our country. I believe this violence is the result of a very dark message our culture has been sending our young people for the last 40 years. That message says you are expendable.

You were expendable from the beginning. Your mother merely allowed you to live. She could have just as easily decided not to allow you to live.

If you are expendable in the beginning, then why aren’t you expendable now? Does your purpose for living magically develop after you cross that line where you can no longer be aborted? Furthermore, since your life depended upon someone’s choice, what value does your life hold? If you weren’t here would it really make a difference?

What about the kids in your neighborhood; aren’t they expendable, too? Just because you were allowed to live, does that make you less expendable?

What a terrible and pervasive message with devastating consequences. Then when our children hit some dark and troubled times, as we all experience in our lifetime, the dark message really comes to fruition. There is evil in this world, and some children are born into bad circumstances and situations, but death is never the answer.

I believe we are eternal creatures who were designed with a plan and purpose. Let’s give our children the true message — that life is sacred and precious and they are the apple of God’s eye.

Cindy Moody

Ocala

Beginning of the end

One hope for the future of America is that President Obama shifts a little to the right and embraces conservatives as well as liberals. But it’s becoming quite clear that he won’t.

Instead, he has moved even further left and will govern America his way, using liberal/socialist policies. That means that he has written off the conservative half of the American people. Conservatives will essentially be without any realistic representation.

And this administration seems not to care. Its priority is to build an entitlement society which relies almost completely on the government. “Makers,” conservative and liberal, subsidize today’s “takers.” Soon “makers” will also help fund the new entitlement society, which will create even more “takers.”

What this administration doesn’t grasp — or does grasp, and simply ignores — is that their policies are gradually destroying America. We’re piling up too much debt. Taxes, fees and penalties will increase. “Makers’ ” ability to earn will diminish. Soon America won’t be able to borrow any more money.

If we continue on this path, America’s economy will collapse. This will signal the beginning of the end of the America we know and love.

<p><b>ORMC's commitment</b></p><p>I have been proud to work at Ocala Regional Medical Center for 24 years. During this time, ORMC has added and intensified many services. The new trauma unit is the proverbial icing on the cake. Outstanding new physicians and allied health personnel such as nurses and physician assistants have re-energized the hospital and have raised the bar for all departments.</p><p>ORMC is a better hospital now that it has a trauma unit. This is good news for Ocala.</p><p>The trauma MDs are also working with emergency medical services, improving it for the entire community. HCA has invested millions of dollars to make this happen. I can assure you that the commitment is sincere and the program is first rate.</p><p>Yes, it did take money to open the trauma unit. HCA has it and invested in Ocala. I do not think that for-profit institutions are inherently evil. If you think so, you need to shop at charity thrift stores and not at the mall. It seems that Munroe Regional Medical Center will need to ally with a for-profit system to survive. Does anybody really think it should close to avoid the stain of profitability?</p><p>Let's get on with the business of improving health care for all with a healthy ORMC-MRMC competition. And yes, it will require money to do that.</p><p><i>Dr. Paul L. Urban, M.D.</p><p>Ocala</i></p><p><b>The greyhound debate</b></p><p>I was not pleased to read James Blanchard's Feb. 1 letter to the editor in response to an earlier column regarding greyhounds (“Greyhound misuse is Florida's great shame,” Jan. 27). I have been involved in greyhound adoption, foster care and advocacy since 2005, and I currently share my home with four greyhounds. I am also the vice president of GREY2K USA, the largest nonprofit greyhound protection organization in the U.S.</p><p>Mr. Blanchard claims that “nearly 95 percent” of registered greyhounds are placed in loving homes when they no longer race. The greyhound industry likes to throw out numbers like this but cannot actually offer any evidence or documentation about the fate of most ex-racers.</p><p>That's because Florida, which has an estimated 8,000 greyhounds running at 13 operational tracks, does not report such information to the public. This is greyhound racing's dirty little secret, and Mr. Blanchard's claim is either wishful thinking at best, or pure fabrication at worst.</p><p>Formed in March 2001, my group works to pass stronger greyhound protection laws and to end the cruelty of dog racing on both national and international levels. We also promote the rescue, rehoming and adoption of greyhounds across the globe. Mr. Blanchard's claim that helping greyhounds is “radical” speaks for itself.</p><p>To read documentation about dog racing, or to learn more about GREY2K USA, please visit us at GREY2KUSA.org.</p><p><i>Eric Jackson</p><p>Albuquerque, N.M.</i></p><p><b>Message of expendability</b></p><p>It is with a sad heart that I write this letter, thinking of the violence that has recently snuffed out precious lives and devastated families in our country. I believe this violence is the result of a very dark message our culture has been sending our young people for the last 40 years. That message says you are expendable.</p><p>You were expendable from the beginning. Your mother merely allowed you to live. She could have just as easily decided not to allow you to live.</p><p>If you are expendable in the beginning, then why aren't you expendable now? Does your purpose for living magically develop after you cross that line where you can no longer be aborted? Furthermore, since your life depended upon someone's choice, what value does your life hold? If you weren't here would it really make a difference?</p><p>What about the kids in your neighborhood; aren't they expendable, too? Just because you were allowed to live, does that make you less expendable?</p><p>What a terrible and pervasive message with devastating consequences. Then when our children hit some dark and troubled times, as we all experience in our lifetime, the dark message really comes to fruition. There is evil in this world, and some children are born into bad circumstances and situations, but death is never the answer.</p><p>I believe we are eternal creatures who were designed with a plan and purpose. Let's give our children the true message — that life is sacred and precious and they are the apple of God's eye.</p><p><i>Cindy Moody</p><p>Ocala</i></p><p><b>Beginning of the end</b></p><p>One hope for the future of America is that President Obama shifts a little to the right and embraces conservatives as well as liberals. But it's becoming quite clear that he won't.</p><p>Instead, he has moved even further left and will govern America his way, using liberal/socialist policies. That means that he has written off the conservative half of the American people. Conservatives will essentially be without any realistic representation.</p><p>And this administration seems not to care. Its priority is to build an entitlement society which relies almost completely on the government. “Makers,” conservative and liberal, subsidize today's “takers.” Soon “makers” will also help fund the new entitlement society, which will create even more “takers.”</p><p>What this administration doesn't grasp — or does grasp, and simply ignores — is that their policies are gradually destroying America. We're piling up too much debt. Taxes, fees and penalties will increase. “Makers' ” ability to earn will diminish. Soon America won't be able to borrow any more money.</p><p>If we continue on this path, America's economy will collapse. This will signal the beginning of the end of the America we know and love.</p><p><i>Joe O'Hara</p><p>Ocala</i></p>